


i picture it soft and i ache

by soperiso



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Domestic Dean Winchester, Everyone Is Alive, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, OH . and billie is god because i say so, Snow Day, also jack is not god bc the council has decided that that was a stupid ass decision, it really is just. fluff. they deserve something soft yk, it's about the fam, tagged as gen bc the focus really isn't on the romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soperiso/pseuds/soperiso
Summary: Jack gets up, dusts himself off, then turns to Cas, helping him up and already rearing to go again. “Can we fit three people on the sled?” he asks.Cas tilts his head, “I don’t see why not.”Jack grins, “Dean, you have to come with us on the next one!”Dean hesitates. Cas glares at him over Jack’s head, now stood behind him, and Dean relents. “Alright, sure.”What's the worst that could happen?__they are all alive they are all friends and they are having a snow day god bles
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	i picture it soft and i ache

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dredfulhapiness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dredfulhapiness/gifts).



> jo!!! my dearest jo!!!! it's your birthday!!!! happy birthday!!!!! i love you so much muah muah

Dean’s used to snow. How could he not be? It’s been a pain in the ass for as long as he’s had the Impala. So, forever. It’s something you get stuck in, not something you choose to surround yourself with.

Which is why he wasn’t immediately on board with Jack’s idea to go sledding. It’s not like that matters, though, because here he is, anyway. In the cold. Freezing his ass off.

He’d tried to say no, at first. “I don’t know, kid, are you sure you don’t just wanna stay inside? It’s warmer,” Dean said, kind of feeling like a dick but not enough to turn back.

“No, I want to go sledding,” Jack had said, so sure of himself. 

Dean had sighed good-naturedly and patted Jack on the shoulder. “Alright, let me grab Sam, Eileen, and Cas, and then we can go.”

“Can everyone else come, too?”

“Well, that depends. Who is everyone?”

“Claire, Jody, Kaia, Billie, Bobby, Kevin, Garth,” Jack had said, counting people on his fingers, “You know, everyone!”

“We’re gonna need a bit more time to get that kind of group together, buddy.”

“That’s okay!” Jack had grinned, “I can wait.”

He didn’t have to wait long, though, since everyone was miraculously free the following weekend. Which brings them to now, in the cold, wrapped in denim and flannel because no one thought to buy a winter coat. He, Sam, Jack, and Cas are the first ones there. The sky is practically white and Dean can hardly see where the ground ends and the sky begins. Dean thinks it’s a little unsettling, but Jack seems to be enjoying it, tugging on Cas’ sleeve to get him to look up at the sky.

Cas does his little squinty thing, clearly adjusting to both the brightness of the white and the constant barrage of snow against his eyes. It’s cute. He’s cute. Dean kind of wants to wrap him in a blanket and put him in his pocket. These are totally normal thoughts to have about his husband. He may have hated himself for them before, but he doesn’t have to now. It’s okay. For once in his fucking life, it’s okay.

Cas catches his eye and motions him over. Dean is greeted with a kiss on the cheek, which definitely does not make his face turn red. It’s the snow. It’s cold! Dean’s allowed to be cold!

He’s saved from further embarrassment when Eileen gets there. At least someone remembered to wear a coat. She’d normally have come with them, but she’d been on a hunt these past few days. Sam, the big puppy, is immediately on her with hugs and kisses peppered across her face. Dean pretends to gag. Eileen flips him off.

More of their little patchwork family file in and Dean greets them all with a pat or a hug. Since when has Dean Winchester had so many people in his corner? For a while there, it felt like it was always gonna be him and Sammy against the world. He’s glad it isn’t. Jody’s here, and she brought her girls. Jo and Ash and Ellen are hopping out of the car—sliding on gloves and hats as they go—and aren’t they a sight for sore eyes. Crowley and Rowena show up, overdressed and evil as always. Dean had missed them. Billie shows up a little bit after them, taking a little break from her God duties to spend some time with their sorry asses. Hell, even Bobby and Rufus dragged their crotchety asses off of the couch to be here, if they are just sitting on fold-up lawn chairs and passing a flask between them. The kid really brings everyone together, huh? And to think that Dean thought Jack was evil. Dean lets out a soft “heh” at how wrong that was, in retrospect.

He knows now, though. God. Jack’s good. He tries to be, at least, and can Dean really ask for more? He himself is not exactly in the running to win the ‘person of the year’ award any time soon.

Before he can spiral deeper into whatever-the-hell train of thought he has going on right now, he’s hit with a snowball. On the side of his face. Oh, someone’s gonna die today.

It turns out that that someone is his dear Charlie, who he never thought would betray him in this way. Jo’s cackling next to her, and. Ah. That explains it. Introducing them may have been one of the worst decisions he ever made.

He bends down, knees creaking as he gathers snow into his hands to form two snowballs, hissing at the stinging chill. Eventually, he succeeds, pelting one at Charlie and the other at Jo. It’s nice to start a war that doesn’t have earth-shattering consequences, for once.

Eventually, Cas and Jack and Kevin and Jody get roped into it, then Claire and Kaia. Claire tries to pretend that she’s too cool for a snowball fight, at first, but all it takes is some gentle prodding from Kaia for her to drop that facade like a pane of glass that shatters at the flick of a finger. Billie has deadly aim and killer dodging ability, so she’s kind of a force to be reckoned with in the world of snowball fights. And, well. Every world. Billie and Mom team up and that’s when everything gets ten times more rowdy. Crowley and Rowena are decidedly not getting involved, so they head over to sit with Bobby and Rufus. Eileen and Sam watch from the side for a bit, laughing at them, before Jack drags them into the fold. Everyone’s cheeks are pink and they’re laughing, even as they get colder and colder with each snowball.

It’s all fun and games until someone nails Bobby in the side of the head.

Rufus is laughing his ass off, obviously, but Bobby looks like he’s considering murder. Even Rowena scoots back from him a bit.

They switch gears from there, Dean and Cas peeling off from the group to pull the sleds out of the Impala. It was a tight squeeze, and some of the sleds had to lay across the laps of the people in the back seat, but they got em all in there. Dean steals a quick kiss before they head back, since he can do that now. He revels in the pink of Cas’ cheeks, choosing to believe that it was  _ him  _ that put that there, rather than the chilly February air. Before heading back, he kisses Cas once more and uses his thumb to gently wipe a couple of snowflakes off of Cas’ eyelashes.

When they get back to the rest of the group, he motions for Cas to lay all the sleds out on the ground and then does the same. 

Soon, the sleds are being dragged up to the top of the hill. Dean stays behind, content to watch. He’s not all that into the concept of eating shit thanks to a rogue rock or something. Eileen’s with him on this one, standing by his side with her arms tucked into her pockets and her foot idly kicking some of the snow onto Dean’s boots. Dean kicks some snow right back onto hers. Sam’s at the top of the hill with a goofy grin on his face, and she nudges Dean when he’s about to go down. Dean’s immediately grateful, because the tumble that Sam takes is something for the books—enough to make Dean full-body wince. Sleds aren’t built for sasquatches, apparently. RIP Sammy Winchester; he had a good run. It seems that not everyone is as worried about Sam as Dean is; Claire’s got her phone out, filming the whole thing, and Dean makes a mental note to ask her to send him that video later.

The others follow him down the hill—most with much better luck. Jack tries to build a jump to go off of, but the snow is too soft. Tired of trying to make it work, he just magics the snow into doing whatever he wants. Smart kid. He convinces Cas to go off the jump with him and Cas agrees, of course. Dean’s not sure that there’s anything Cas wouldn’t do for him. 

Dean makes sure to take his phone out for this one, ready for them to wipe out but also kind of nervous that they will. Of course, they do. It starts going downhill—literally—when the sled turns around and sends them careening over the jump backwards. The landing is less than spectacular and has Dean torn between laughing and rushing over to check on them. He chooses both, and Cas gives him quite the glare when his laughter makes it so that he can’t keep his hands still enough to properly check over Jack’s injuries. He accidentally bumps Jack’s nose with his thumb, causing the kid to blink surprisedly. Dean calms down a bit, now able to actually make sure they’re okay. Once he deems them both fine, he presses quick kisses to the tops of their heads.

Jack gets up, dusts himself off, then turns to Cas, helping him up and already rearing to go again. “Can we fit three people on the sled?” he asks.

Cas tilts his head, “I don’t see why not.”

Jack grins, “Dean, you have to come with us on the next one!”

Dean hesitates. Cas glares at him over Jack’s head, now stood behind him, and Dean relents. “Alright, sure.”

Jack pops up, already dragging the sled back up to the top of the hill. Dean smiles fondly at his back before helping Cas up. “You good, old man?” he asks, only slightly teasing. He worries.

“I’m fine, Dean,” Cas says, but he doesn’t make Dean let go.

When they make it up to the top of the hill, Jack is already sitting in the sled waiting for them. Dean checks on everyone else, real quick, only to find multiple cameras pointing in his direction. Bastards, all of them. 

They almost don’t all fit, but they make it work. It would’ve been easier back when Cas was more of a waif, but dean can’t exactly complain about the fact that he’s beefed up considerably. All the more strength to f-

Dean grabs Cas’ waist tightly as Jack sends them shooting down the hill. It’s a lot faster than he’d expected, which is kind of dumb in hindsight because the hill is both huge and steep _.  _ This is how he’s gonna die, Dean’s sure. Not by ghosts or vampires or the Devil himself, but by a Goddamn sled. 

They don’t die, though. By some grace of God. Or, well. Someone. Maybe just existence. Maybe just them. 

Jack’s rearing to go again already, and who is Dean to say no? So they go. Again and again and again until even Cas is a little bit tired. When Cas and Dean finally nope out, Jack just makes Sam and Eileen go with him. Dean’s glad he’s having fun—he deserves it. They all do. 

Eventually, everyone is a little worn out. Claire and Kaia have the tell-tale snow across their backs that Dean is choosing to believe came from making snow angels. Jody’s routinely ruffling Kevin, Patience, and Alex’s hair, trying to get the snow out of it. Bobby and Rufus haven’t done much of anything, but they seem happy to just watch everyone else be idiots and talk amongst themselves. Garth and his family are mingling, and Dean's glad to see that they're doing well. Charlie and Jo are both shivering—clinging to each other for warmth. Dean’s a little concerned by how well they get along, but it’s better than them hating each other, he supposes. Eileen is tucked under Sam’s arm, seemingly huddling for warmth. They don't look all that cold, though. Dean supposes they just like being close to each other. 

He looks at Cas. He gets it. 

Someone suggests hot chocolate, which everyone is on board with, of course. They go back to the Bunker, where Dean gets Jack to help him boil water and pour hot chocolate packets into mugs. They pass the mugs out to everyone’s grabby hands. The hot chocolate is smooth and rich and it warms Dean up from the inside out. The house is full, there’s laughter ringing off the walls, and everywhere he turns, he sees family. He feels some type of way—some type of way he hasn’t felt in a long time.

There’s something to be said, here. Something about soft epilogues. Maybe this is theirs. Dean wouldn’t be too upset if it is.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> come hang out with me on [tumblr!](https://crobby.tumblr.com)


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